Awards Shows, FTW!

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | 3 Comments

Happy Monday, all. Hope you had a good weekend. Oh, me? What did I do this weekend? Well, I went to the gym, cleaned my apartment, mini-golfed with a friend. Oh, and I totally watched the Emmy Awards last night.

That’s right, folks. It is time to once again start up the most wonderful time of the year. Forget the start of school – it’s awards show season! I adore awards shows. I make a point to watch as many as I can and, as God as my witness, one day I will actually attend one in person - preferably as a nominee and/or winner for writing, direction, producing or generally just being awesome (because you know I totally already have my acceptance speech written).

But, Meredith (you may ask), aren’t award shows just an excuse for Hollywood to congratulate itself on being fantastic? YES. And that’s what’s awesome about them. Awards shows are like a special version of a reality competition, in which the pretty people are finally pitted against each other while us regular folk get to watch with glee – and mock.

Some people watch the ceremonies for the winners or to support their favorite actor / writer / singer-songwriter. Others watch for the fashion. Me? I watch for the acceptance speeches.

There’s nothing quite like a good acceptance speech: the faux look of surprise on the winner’s face, the struggle of the losers to hide their disappointment. The inevitable mention of God / spouse / dead parent, without whom they wouldn’t be here. Acceptance speeches have given us classic pop culture moments, like when crazy Italian Robert Benigni went wild and jumped on chairs, when Cuba Gooding Jr. freaked the frak out, or when Kayne totally ruined Taylor Swift’s day, oh the drama!

So in honor of this most holy awards show season, I present my favorite acceptance speeches:

• My Boston boys, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who won for their screenplay for Good Will Hunting. It’s not as flashy as some of the others, but it’s hometown boys make good.
• Hugh Laurie – in 2006, when faced with the prospect of having to thank 100+ people in a short amount of time, he came up with a clever idea: pick three at random. Genius.
• Meryl Streep – oh, Meryl. She could read the phone book on a bare stage and I’d give her an award. She’s always delightful when she wins – and she wins a lot – but in 2007, she won for The Devil Wears Prada and gave won of my favorite speeches.
• Steve Carell - I think it’s shocking Michael Scott hasn’t won more awards, because when he does, he comes out with great stuff like this – a speech, “written” by his wife. Just brilliant. (Here’s the text because the video kind of sucks.)
• Speaking of Steve Carell, how about pairing him with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for sheer and total awesomeness? This is why they make awards shows. (And while we’re at it, let’s just put Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert together as default, since they’re so good together.)
• Any time Ricky Gervais gets on stage. Most of the time, he’s not winning an award. But he should – for best awards show appearances. Like this one at the Golden Globes. Or last year at the Emmys. Or when he made Steve Carell give his Emmy back.
• Lastly, all hail Tina Fey, Queen of the Awards Show Acceptances! Pretty much any time she wins, she comes up with something brilliant to say, but my absolute favorite was at the 2009 Golden Globes when she gloated about winning to all her haters. (She’s also really good at presenting awards too, especially when paired with Steve Martin.)

What are your favorite awards show speeches? Emmys, Oscars, or Golden Globes? Who do you root for?

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

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